--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wonder whether I might have meant…" description: "\"I wonder whether I might have meant \"terrify us\" but perhaps as well there was a less than conscious effort to show that the suppression of debate abou..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dde/judith-butler-1374_academic_i-wonder-whether-i-might-have-meant-terr_1090536.jpg" --- # I wonder whether I might have meant "terrify us" but… ![“I wonder whether I might have meant "terrify us" but perhaps as well there was a less than conscious effort to show that the suppression of debate about Palestine and about the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement - within many academic circles - does seek to establish those who would…” quote by Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dde/judith-butler-1374_academic_i-wonder-whether-i-might-have-meant-terr_1090536.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dde/judith-butler-1374_academic_i-wonder-whether-i-might-have-meant-terr_1090536.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dde/judith-butler-1374_academic_i-wonder-whether-i-might-have-meant-terr_1090536.jpg) > “I wonder whether I might have meant "terrify us" but perhaps as well there was a less than conscious effort to show that the suppression of debate about Palestine and about the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement - within many academic circles - does seek to establish those who would address such issues in speech as already collaborating with "terrorist" regimes, although now only Hamas is officially terrorist according to the US government and its allies.” [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques how academic discourse on Palestine and BDS is framed to equate scholars with terrorism, limiting open debate. **In simple terms:** Academics are silenced by being labeled terrorists. Key Takeaway Recognize and resist labeling that stifles discussion. Themes free speech academic freedom political labeling human rights Mood critical concerned Type analytical political controversial When to use this quote - university panels - public debates - policy drafting - media analysis Key Concepts critical theory power dynamics terrorism discourse Questions to Reflect On - How does labeling affect scholarly inquiry? - What safeguards protect both security and free expression? A Different Perspective The argument may overlook legitimate security concerns and the nuance of supporting extremist groups. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Academic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academic/) [Allies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allies/) [Boycott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boycott/) [Circles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circles/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Debate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/debate/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Hamas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hamas/) [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [Issues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/issues/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [Palestine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/palestine/) [Sanctions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sanctions/) [Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech/) [Suppression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suppression/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) ## Related quotes > [I wonder about economic sanctions, though, since that is a way that states engage in boycotts against one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-wonder-about-economic-sanctions-though-since-that-is-a-way-that/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Only if we accept the proposition that the state of Israel is the exclusive and legitimate representative of the Jewish people would a movement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/only-if-we-accept-the-proposition-that-the-state-of-israel-is-the/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [I believe boycotts are wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-brewer/i-believe-boycotts-are-wrong/) [Jan Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-brewer/) > [The road to social justice for the farm worker is the road of unionization. Our cause, our strike against table grapes and our international…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/the-road-to-social-justice-for-the-farm-worker-is-the-road-of/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [I'm not encouraging massive boycotts of turning off the news. That's what the left does. I'm just telling you my own personal experience. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/i-m-not-encouraging-massive-boycotts-of-turning-off-the-news-that-s/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [ \[Boycott Oscar\] is like crying about not having enough icing on your cake. It's just ridiculous. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ice-cube/boycott-oscar-is-like-crying-about-not-having-enough-icing-on-your/) [Ice Cube](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ice-cube/) > [Americans should boycott Yahoo products until they get the message that freedom is an American ideal, and we're not going to give it up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shervin-pishevar/americans-should-boycott-yahoo-products-until-they-get-the-message/) [Shervin Pishevar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shervin-pishevar/) > [Six imams removed from a US Airways flight from Minneapolis to Phoenix are calling on Muslims to boycott the airline. 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I continue to think that some things transcend politics like the murder of four of our fellow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trey-gowdy/well-i-certainly-hope-the-democrats-participate-i-continue-to-think/) [Trey Gowdy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trey-gowdy/) > [If you want to boycott Israel because of Palestine, I don't think you actually care, because you're also boycotting 2 million Muslim Palestinian Israelis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuseir-yassin/if-you-want-to-boycott-israel-because-of-palestine-i-don-t-think-you/) [Nuseir Yassin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuseir-yassin/) > [When I was teaching at an institution that bent over backward for foreign students, I was asked in class one day: "What is your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/when-i-was-teaching-at-an-institution-that-bent-over-backward-for/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [We shall strike. We shall organize boycotts. We shall demonstrate and have political campaigns. We shall pursue the revolution we have proposed. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-shall-strike-we-shall-organize-boycotts-we-shall-demonstrate-and/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [The majority of the Negroes who took part in the year-long boycott of Montgomery's buses were poor and untutored; but they understood the essence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-majority-of-the-negroes-who-took-part-in-the-year-long-boycott-of/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [“. Despite the considerable horror they had felt when the SA men were bellowing crude anti-Semitic slogans, in retrospect the joke-tellers were very much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolph-herzog/despite-the-considerable-horror-they-had-felt-when-the-sa-men-were/) [Rudolph Herzog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolph-herzog/) ## More by Judith Butler > [I don't think we have to have a personal relation to a life lost to understand that something terrible has taken place, especially in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-don-t-think-we-have-to-have-a-personal-relation-to-a-life-lost-to/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [We need a legal and political understanding of the right of the refugee, whereby no solution for one group produces a new class of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/we-need-a-legal-and-political-understanding-of-the-right-of-the/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [When we say gender is performed, we usually mean that we've taken on a role or we're acting in some way and that our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/when-we-say-gender-is-performed-we-usually-mean-that-we-ve-taken-on-a/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Cameras help to minimize collateral damage, and very often, without a camera a missile cannot fire. 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But I think it would be a mistake if the sexual harassment law movement is the only way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/sexual-harassment-law-is-very-important-but-i-think-it-would-be-a/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Genocide is not a legitimate option. It's not ok to decide that an entire population has no right to live in the world. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/genocide-is-not-a-legitimate-option-it-s-not-ok-to-decide-that-an/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“Let's face it. We're undone by each other. And if we're not, we're missing something. If this seems so clearly the case with grief,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/let-s-face-it-we-re-undone-by-each-other-and-if-we-re-not-we-re/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [The pleasurable part of public mourning can also lead to a sense of self-sanctification that justifies in advance any war effort, whether or not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/the-pleasurable-part-of-public-mourning-can-also-lead-to-a-sense-of/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“There is no life without the conditions of life that variably sustain life, and those conditions are pervasively social, establishing not the discrete ontology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/there-is-no-life-without-the-conditions-of-life-that-variably-sustain/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“That the power regimes of heterosexism and phallogocentrism seek to augment themselves through a constant repetition of their logic, their metaphysic, and their naturalized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/that-the-power-regimes-of-heterosexism-and-phallogocentrism-seek-to/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [I think that public grieving is a good thing. 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Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) [Browse all 958 Academic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I wonder whether I might have meant \"terrify us\" but perhaps as well there was a less than conscious effort to show that the suppression of debate about Palestine and about the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement - within many academic circles - does seek to establish those who would address such issues in speech as already collaborating with \"terrorist\" regimes, although now only Hamas is officially terrorist according to the US government and its allies.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Judith Butler" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-wonder-whether-i-might-have-meant-terrify-us-but-perhaps-as-well/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Academic" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-wonder-whether-i-might-have-meant-terrify-us-but-perhaps-as-well/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dde/judith-butler-1374_academic_i-wonder-whether-i-might-have-meant-terr_1090536.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dde/judith-butler-1374_academic_i-wonder-whether-i-might-have-meant-terr_1090536.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dde/judith-butler-1374_academic_i-wonder-whether-i-might-have-meant-terr_1090536.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I wonder whether I might have meant \"terrify us\" but perhaps as well there was a less than conscious effort…” — Judith Butler", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Judith Butler", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I wonder whether I might have...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-wonder-whether-i-might-have-meant-terrify-us-but-perhaps-as-well/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-wonder-whether-i-might-have-meant-terrify-us-but-perhaps-as-well/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```